In New York, a hamlet is a community that is not incorporated as a village, i.e. an unincorporated community. Hamlets usually have names based off of a local school district, post office, or fire district.[1] Because a hamlet has no government of its own, the town it is in provides municipal services and government.[2]
Suffolk County makes maps that give hamlet boundaries,[1] but towns with Suffolk County also publish maps that conflict both in the number of hamlets and their boundaries.[3] Nevertheless, all land not within a village is administered by the town.
Most of the rest of New York's hamlets have less defined boundaries, and most towns have areas that are not considered to be a part of any hamlet. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) puts hamlet names on rectangular green signs with white lettering at roadside locations of its choosing.[4] The NYSDOT and local governments also provide community identification signs on some scenic byways to be placed at the roadside boundaries of hamlets, as decided by the sign provider.[5] Many hamlets have welcome signs at the gateways to the hamlets.[6]
Some hamlets are former villages that have ended their incorporation (Old Forge in Herkimer County; Rosendale, in Ulster County; and Andes in Delaware County, for example).[7]
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